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Product Description
Review
"Alson's crystalline prose takes us through a risk-lover's garden of terrors and earthly delights during the course of his comic, at times moving quest for luck, love, and the new American dream. Take Me to the River is, without question, one of the finest poker books ever written." -- James McManus, bestselling author of Positively Fifth Street
"Alson writes like he's making a late-night long-distance call from a phone booth in the middle of the desert, with his head buzzing as he digs into his pockets for more change. His transparent prose is ferociously honest and deceptively simple." -- Matthew Klam, author of Sam the Cat and Other Stories
"Alson writes like he's making a late-night long-distance call from a phone booth in the middle of the desert, with his head buzzing as he digs into his pockets for more change. His transparent prose is ferociously honest and deceptively simple." -- Matthew Klam, author of Sam the Cat and Other Stories
Product Description
An overeducated underachiever, Peter Alson spent his post-college decades doing his best not to grow up. But having just turned fifty, this rambling-gambling bachelor decides it's time to settle down. So he pops the question to his longtime girlfriend, then hatches a plan to pay for their wedding -- involving poker and a trip to Las Vegas. Boarding a plane bound for the neon desert and the biggest game in town -- the 2005 World Series of Poker -- this inveterate gambler and bad boy stares down his past and his future while competing for over $56 million in prize money.
Take Me to the River is a hilarious, wrenching, full-tilt Vegas exploration of one man's obsession with poker and the lessons it has to offer -- about probability and luck, good fortune and bad, patience, perseverance, and -- most fitting for a man with marriage in his near future -- commitment.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Poker circa 2005,
By Non-fiction Diction (Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Take Me to the River: A Wayward and Perilous Journey to the World Series of Poker (Hardcover)
Take Me to the River is written by Peter Alson who leads you through a few months of his life in 2005 preparing for the World Series and his impending marriage.Peter is an above average poker player (and writer) who shares his stories of bad beats and cash game triumphs in an entertaining fashion. Intersperced throughout the poker stories are glimpses into his life and how he balances his work, his relationship and his poker playing. Each of them get their fair share of the spotlight. The poker is just one aspect of this book but every element is compelling. This book won't make you a better player but will remind you of the ups and downs of having poker as your passion. Well worth reading.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book,
By
This review is from: Take Me to the River: A Wayward and Perilous Journey to the World Series of Poker (Hardcover)
If you are like me and once in a while like to read a book about Poker that isn't chalk full of charts, math and theory then this is a book for you. Similar in a way to Positively 5th Street (minus the crime coverage).The author is another wannabe journalist poker player who enters the WSOP. I found it well written and entertaining right to the end. I was shocked with what he revealed considering his wife no doubt read the book. SO there you go, a great story and lots of poker without all the ego and chest thumping other writers tend to shovel into their books. Was really sorry it ended, and hope he writes part 2 sometime.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.4 out of 5 stars (24 customer reviews) 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Honest. Muscular prose!,
By Jiminy Durrell "Jiminy Durrell" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Take Me to the River: A Wayward and Perilous Journey to the World Series of Poker (Hardcover)
First, I have to confess that I have an aversion to betting and gambling of any sort but I could not put down Confessions of an Ivy League Bookie. Peter's new book is a triumph of story telling (and I hate card games of any kind!) His observations are pure genuis, and his candor is admirable. If Peter Alson wrote a book about cars or spaceships or furniture building- other topics of disinterest to me- I would read them, knowing he would engage me... the language is the story, and Peter's perspective carries you away.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Contemporary Rogue,
By Stephen C. Chao - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Take Me to the River: A Wayward and Perilous Journey to the World Series of Poker (Hardcover)
Peter comes from a good family. Letters are in the blood. Has a good education. Thankfully, he never lets any of that interfere with his singular pursuit of a rogue's tale. Few authors can capture the simultaneous snob-and-gutter appeal of poker like Alson. It is a fine read.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great poker memoir,
By Dulcibelle - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Take Me to the River: A Wayward and Perilous Journey to the World Series of Poker (Paperback)
I love reading poker memoirs. It doesn't matter to me whether the author wins or loses - or even if the memoir is completely true - I just love reading about the gambler's life. And Alson's account is one of the better ones I've read. It doesn't hurt that Alson is coauthor of the Stu Unger biography One of a Kind - and knows his way around a poker book. He doesn't get so caught up in the actual game that the book is nothing but dissection of hand after hand, but includes enough information about what happens away from the table to make you feel that you're really getting to know him.
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